The questionable ones are those along the lines of “chance me and I’ll chance you back”. If the OP is qualified to "chance back’ then they should also be qualified to determine their own chances.
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Additionally we often see threads dominated by financial inquiries
Agreed. I’m a senior who recently made a “chance me” post, because I have a relatively unique situation (vocational school) that’s unaddressed in nearly all college resources I’ve come across, and I wanted perspectives on where I stand from people besides my parents. Got some solid responses, which I did appreciate, but the whole thing got kind of taken over by people throwing out recommendations for affordable schools (most of which turned out to not be when I ran the NPC’s) rather than feedback on the list I asked about. Well meaning, but honestly unhelpful.
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I remember your thread and wish you great outcomes. Wondering as it was brought up numerous times did you ever take a closer look at Alabama?
The trouble is, sometimes the advice offered is unsupported and/or inaccurate, and if left uncontroverted, the OP may be mislead. Accurate information should be the primary concern.
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One can point out a mistake and source it vs calling someone a loser …in other words. I’ve both corrected and been corrected.
I’ve seen chance me when I was wrong. An hour ago in fact. @DadOfJerseyGirl said someone had a greater thann50% chance of admission to Chicago and said student just got in and I’ve been right when others are wrong. I didn’t say they wouldn’t. I just said no way they have 50% odds. He pointed out why.
Having someone write that you are an ass or criticizing another without addressing the OP is wrong. Many criticize and don’t even address the OP. Just the person who cared enough to write.
Chance mes are opinion. When facts are shared and they are incorrect the change should be noted. And tone should stay civil.
And if anyone writes they should offer the op an opinion. Too many don’t.
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I don’t know what you are talking about, but it doesn’t seem to be related to this thread. Perhaps it is an issue for the moderators?
IMO, if anyone responds to chance me threads, they should offer solid and reliable information that addresses the OP’s question.
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And that’s fair and you should absolutely counter and with why. No issues.
Anyway I’ll jump off this thread. I like chance mes. It is what it is.
I just wish there was a rule that OPs had to give us the final results !!
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This!! I think most if not all responders are well intended but in trying to be helpful sometimes run the risk of offering opinions about subjects they know little about. It becomes particularly destructive and self indulgent when used as a means to share personal successes rather than answering OPs question.
It’s great and understandable for parents to be proud of their kids but chance me threads are about the OP and their concerns in my opinion.
Once again I don’t always follow my own advice but I try to only respond when I have direct first hand experience or knowledge.
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Yes! I try to never post about a school that I don’t have personal experience with. Just because I’ve read a lot of posts about a school doesn’t mean that I know that school.
As for chance me threads being opinions, yes and no. If you say “I think school x is better than school y because of …. “ and then state why, that’s one thing. But people make blanket statements written as factual sentences such as “school x is better than school y” with no back up.
Next, I don’t think that posters should bring their kids into chance me threads unless it’s directly applicable, such as the poster is inquiring about a school that your child applied to and therefore whether they got accepted or not is relevant.
Finally, I think the emphasis on finances is really annoying. This was one of the most annoying things about this site when I first joined. I hated having to repeat to multiple posters on multiple threads that finances were not relevant to our decision. And the arrogance of some who insisted that yes they were relevant because they thought they understood my finances more than I did. I don’t tell other people how to spend their money. Don’t tell me how to spend mine.
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This!
If a poster indicates finances are not a concern, then that is that as far as I’m concerned. I will confess that I do sometimes ask…because that info can help in terms of chances…especially for international students or others applying to need aware schools.
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Same ought to apply to other issues as well. If a kid isn’t interested in going to schools with little or Asian, AA, and/or Hispanic diversity, then why not accept that? Or if they aren’t interested in big schools or schools in the Deep South, maybe don’t tell them repeatedly they should replace X,Y, or Z with University of Alabama. Or if I kid is interested in STEM programs at liberal arts schools, then maybe it isn’t our place to cajole them into considering SLO or Purdue.
The natural inclination is to assume that our experiences and rationales are more universal than they really are, and this often comes out in chance me threads, sometimes to the detriment of the OP.
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Chance me for college admissions threads in my opinion shouldn’t become my kids college senior year he had multiple interviews and several job offer responses. That is why CC has a dedicated brag thread.
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Personally, when parents report their kids’ outcomes as they near the end of college graduation, I don’t see it as bragging. This is especially true when it comes up in the context of kids going to colleges that are not highly rejective. For our family, one of the big questions was if we would be doing our kid a disservice not to send him to the “best” program he got into, especially because technically we could afford it (although depleting our savings in the process.) So for me it feels helpful (i.e. generous, not braggy) when somebody says “My kid went to non-elite school XYZ, and is being showered with job offers anyway because of their hard work.”
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Well, my kid never considered Yale. But if someone from the elite program where he did apply had been posting the real-world results of their kid’s education and it had been a bunch of job offers, I would have sure been interested, and it would have been an important data point.
Our family came into the college selection process with a lot of preconceived ideas about which colleges were “best.” I never did a Chance Me thread (nor did my kid) but if either of us had, it would have been filled with all the usual highly rejective, highly ranked schools. Posters who stuck to the question would have said “It’s a reach for everyone in your kid’s major.” Which for us would have had only limited value. Kind of like Reddit a2c, where they stick to the subject, and say “Bruh, probably screwed.”
But CC is different than Reddit a2c, and Chance Me threads usually morph into Match Me territory, which in my experience was super valuable. My kid “knew” he wanted a big secular school. He ended up at Catholic campus with 2,000 undergrads! This school was not on our radar, we had never heard of it. And when we first learned of its existence we assumed it would be a terrible fit. But that’s where he ended up, in a large part due to helpful advice from posters here both in public posts and in DMs. He is thriving there and getting a ton of opportunities (that I am hopeful will lead to many job offers when he approaches graduation.)
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I personally think Chance Me threads are just a tip of the iceberg way for posters to get some info about colleges, and the potential for acceptance. None of us are adcoms, and even if we were, we would not be able to tell a poster their chances of acceptance.
But sometimes, the poster wants hints about other colleges to add, or if their list is a realistic one in the opinion of others reading their thread. Nothing wrong with that at all.
I do think nothing posted on Chance Me threads should be viewed as the gospel, because the applicant pool changes from year to year, and no one can predict the change in strength of that applicant pool.
Re: jobs? Good to know that career services are good, and that job prospects are decent. But four years forward, again hard to predict. I guess past info can be an indicator as long as folks remember that the job market can change dramatically in a field over four years.
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Just a reminder to stay on topic. If you find yourself going back and forth with a particular user, it probably means debate is ensuing and that isn’t allowed as per forum rules. Thanks!
I like the idea of a “Match Me” section! But again…this would be sort of based on past info, and might not align with the current applicant pool.
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Yep. Chance Me threads at CC can be the gateway drug to the real college (re)search.
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Agree with what appears to be the general consensus: chance me threads are silly and mostly not useful. Match me threads, on the other hand, can be highly valuable not only to the OP but future readers as well.
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If they’re silly - then why do so many names on here respond?
I still say - if someone is interested in learning their chances, there is no harm in answering a question asked. I see many on here typically disclaim.
I’ve had so many PMs and public praise (as have many of you - certainly publicly) from chance me that I don’t see the harm. And I’m glad they come in this folder because I’m not on other message boards or other sub areas of cc.
The point of a chance me is this simple - someone has a question. Someone else has a “their opinion” answer. Sometimes that morphs - and if the person morphing it has solid info, then so what? Who is it hurting?
There was a wonderful student who applied to Michigan who posted yesterday. We later found out she had significant merit to Pitt and Delaware already while she waits. A couple posters (not me) noted to her to watch her finances carefully and the schools with merit might make more sense, even if she gets into Michigan.
No, she didn’t ask - but I don’t personally see why that is wrong. They are giving warning for discussion to have with her family. Someone might even comment (and regularly does on here, myself included) about job success. I see - every time someone says they’re going to a ridiculously priced school for pre-med, there’s ten - don’t do it - save your $$ for med school.
Or find a campus with a variety of majors that interest you because while you think you want med school, it’s unlikely.
I see all this and more from chance mes and it’s all great info.
If someone learns about something else they didn’t think about or know about, then FANTASTIC. if someone hears something and wants to dispute it, they never should have asked (that happens too - they ask with a hopeful answer already in mind).
If someone thinks these kind of questions and responses are silly, then don’t partake.
I go to Kroger and there’s lots of products I don’t like. But guess what, I don’t buy them. But I don’t go on line and insult the 99% of products they have that I don’t buy.
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